Training Log Archive: possum

Last day of the National Meet at Diamond Bay. A real let down from yesterday. Much more technical, and limited visibility. I did respectably until the 7-8 lap. Not exactly sure why I was too far left, but it took a long rime for me to figure out exactly where I was. I will state that it was a really tricky control location. Then 8-9 was pretty good, and I screwed up again on 9-10. I think I was pretty near the control, but I wasn't sure exactly where I was, so I followed Sharon's advice, bailed and relocated to a sure location. Then I walked right to it, but it was another costly mistake. Need to focus. Again, I was fourth today, but my stellar performance got me second place for the three-day total. Now that I know my compass skills and map reading are good, I need to work on focus and consistency.

Mike and I left as soon as we had both finished, and made a fast journey back to KC. Ten hours from Diamond Bay to Platte City, including a few fast stops. Weather was great, although we were sorry we couldn't bring the wonderful cool mountain air back with us. My Fitbit tells me that I did over 17,000 steps today, although I spent ten hours driving.

Brown - Splits

Today was the second day of the National Meet at Remarkable Flats, which proved to be remarkable for me. This has to be the best I have ever done. I knew where I was all the time, and where I needed to pick up the next control. It was just about the most fun I have ever had, and a real boost for me to continue trying to do this. My time was good enough for my total to move me from fourth to second. Yeah. It was wonderful.

Brown - Splits

My first time at Twin Boulders on the first day of the National Meet. Mostly adjusted to the altitude. My map reading and compass skills have improved a lot, and I now know almost all the time where I am on the map. I did well (for me) until the 6-7 lap, which was about 1.3km. I had it for about the first km, knew where I was, but got distracted by a couple of controls on other courses. This was stupid because I knew it was too soon for my control. Anyway, I spent 51:00 on this lap, which was at least 30 minutes too long. It also put me in fourth place in my class.

Brown - Splits

Today's altitude adjustment training was at Devil's Claw. I hadn't raced at this location before. Even with the short cut option I took (the regular course was 7.7km) it was brutal. The hills were incredibly steep, and I had to sit and catch my breath twice. I hadn't done that in a long time. A long marsh with deep pools bisected the map, and it was suggested that the best way to cross from 9 to 10 was on the beaver dam. When I got to the beaver dam, four or five others were also there. At the end of the dam was a gap of about three feet ending in a very slick and muddy bank with water on the other side. Mike tried jumping and fell in head first. Since I can't jump anyway, I tried wading the gap. It was about three inches over my knees, but my core work and upper body strength managed to get me up and over the other bank. I walked close, but skipped the last two controls to get in by the two-hour time limit.

The best thing about today was that the rest of the week should be much easier.

Today was the first One Cowgirl Relay at Pitcher Hill. Mostly it was training to acclimatize to the altitude--8600 feet at the turnoff. Five loops. I did the first four, and the last was advertised to be the easiest--only one km. When I turned over the map, it was actually 3 km, and I knew I didn't have time, so I quit and waited for Mike. I also had my only fall of the week--the ground was almost all covered by sage, and I tripped and cut open my hand. Not serious, but a very bloody start to the day.

It has been raining a lot in Wyoming and all the marshes are very wet. Today was only the first day of wet, muddy shoes. Fortunately, I brought two pair, so one pair can dry while I wear the other.

Spent most of the day driving to Laramie with Mike S on I-80, mostly through Nebraska. About 20 miles east of the Wyoming state line, in Kimball, NE, a sudden storm started dumping huge quantities of hail which actually covered the ground. We got off to try and find cover, but nothing was available. While parked in a truck parking lot, suddenly a wind gust blew apart a metal building about 20-30 feet from us, and right away, the power line about six feet away was blown loose, with lots of arky-sparky, and it wasn't fourth of July yet. When the wind and hail subsided, I had to back up to avoid driving over the live wire. Then on to Laramie. The next day on the weather, they said that it was 1.25 inch hail and 80 mph wind gusts. Sleeping that night was not too good.

Very close to 5 in intensity. I don't know whether it was hard or just seemed that way because I hadn't been there in over a week. The CHOW was hit the bag four times and do a Burpee. I got to 21.